22 Mar HOW MUCH HOLIDAY PREPARATION?

I. Thirty Days Before A Holiday
Holidays are much
like other things in life
in the sense that the
more you put into it,
the more you get out
of it. We are instructed to study the laws of a
holiday thirty days in advance. The Gemara
(Pesachim 6a-b) learns this from Moshe,
who taught the laws of Pesach Sheini on
Pesach Rishon. If we examine the precise
reason for this rule, we can see important
practical ramifications for today.
Rabbeinu Nissim (Ran, 14th cen., Spain;
Commentary to Rif, Megillah 2b s.v. Moshe)
points out that the Gemara (Megillah 4a)
seems to disagree with the thirty day rule. It
says that Moshe issued an enactment that we
should learn the laws of a holiday on the day
of the holiday. Ran explains that on the holiday itself we must speak about and learn the
laws. Thirty days in advance, the rabbis must
be prepared to answer any questions people
might have. According to Ran, a regular Jew
does not have to start reviewing the laws of a
holiday thirty days in advance.
However, Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan (20th
cen., Poland; Mishnah Berurah, Bi’ur Halachah s.v. sho’alin) argues that the vast majority of Medieval authorities disagree with
Ran and believe that there are two obligations — to study the laws beginning thirty
days in advance on the holiday and to study
them on the holiday itself (for example, see
Tosafos, Megillah 4a s.v. mai).
Ran’s argument seems to be that it would
be redundant to have two obligations to
study the laws of a holiday. If you review
the laws thirty days in advance, you should
know them very well by the time the holiday
arrives. What would Tosafos and the other
authorities answer to this question?
II. Why Study In Advance?
We can ask what the nature is of this obligation to study the laws thirty days in advance.
Is the base obligation to prepare for the holiday? You need to be able to enter the holiday
fully ready to observe all its practices. Study
in advance enables this. In this view, studying
the laws is a hechsher mitzvah, preparation to
fulfill a mitzvah. Or is it a universal obligation to study the laws before the holiday? By
enforcing a standard period of study, we will
all be prepared for the holiday and we enter
the holiday spiritually prepared for it because
we have been thinking about it for a full
thirty days. In this view, studying the laws
is a mitzvah in itself, a taste of the holiday
before it arrives. Tosafos (Bechoros 57b s.v.
bi-fros) say that we need thirty
days to learn the laws of the
holiday sacrifices. However,
even today when we have no
sacrifices, we still must learn
the laws of the holiday.
One of the practical differences that emerges from these
two views is if you already
know the laws intimately. If
the obligation is to prepare
then if you already know the
laws, you do not need to study
them. But if the obligation is to
study the laws before the holiday, then whether you already
know them or not you must
study them.
It seems that Ran believes that the obligation is to know the laws, not necessarily to
study them. Therefore, the rabbis need to
answer holiday-related questions thirty days
in advance if anyone is uncertain about the
details. Otherwise, there is no independent
obligation to study what you already know.
The majority view seems to accept that the
obligation is to study the laws every year beginning thirty days before the holiday.
III. How Much Advance Study?
According to Ran, for thirty days scholars
are available to help you but on the
holiday itself, you have to study. Some
people might need more time and help.
They have thirty days. But everyone
needs one day of review and that is on
the holiday itself. According to others,
what is the point of studying the laws
on the holiday when you just spent
thirty days reviewing those laws? We
must say that the study of the laws on
the holiday itself is not a preparation but
a fulfillment of the holiday itself. Part
of a holiday’s practices is study of the
holiday. This study facilitates a deeper
understanding of the day you are celebrating. Holidays should not be days
merely of celebration but also of contemplation, of intellectual discussion
about the holiday.
If the obligation is to study in advance
of a holiday, then this might apply only
to Pesach (which is the view of Rav Yosef Karo (16th cen., Israel) Beis Yosef,
Orach Chaim 429). There seems to be a
run-up to the holiday of Pesach. We see
a suggestion in the Haggadah that we
might have thought that we could recite the story of the Exodus in advance
of the holiday, perhaps even on Rosh
Chodesh. We cannot do so but even
the suggestion makes the point that the
weeks before Pesach have a connection to the holiday. Maybe learning the
laws is also part of this unique aspect of
Pesach. But if, on the other hand, this
study is just preparation for practicing
the rituals of the holiday, it should apply to any holiday that has complicated
laws, including Sukkos and Purim and really
all of them (Rav Avraham Gombiner (17th
cen., Poland), Magen Avraham, 429:1 approvingly quotes authorities who say that the
obligation applies to all holidays).
If the obligation is specifically to study the
laws beginning thirty days before the holiday, then the time period falls exactly on thirty days before the holiday (as cited in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 429:1). However,
if the obligation is to prepare for the holiday,
then the time period is less important than the
result — people must be fully prepared when
the holiday begins. Magen Avraham (ibid.)
says that the custom in his day (and today)
is to give a practical sermon on Shabbos HaGadol and Shabbos Shuvah, the Shabbos before Pesach and before Yom Kippur, to fulfill
this obligation of studying before the holiday.
Magen Avraham explains, “the main point
is to instruct the people of G-d in the ways
of G-d, to teach the practice that they should
do.” Mishnah Berurah (429:1) says that for
Pesach we need thirty days because the laws
are so complex but other holidays require
fewer days of study. He also seems to hold
that the main point is preparation for the holiday. Similarly, Rambam (12th cen., Egypt;
Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Ishus 8:5) says that
the custom in his time was to teach publicly
the basics of the holiday laws close to the
holiday so everyone would be proficient in
them. It seems that even those who disagree
with Ran agree with him that the thirty day
period is for preparing for the holiday.